Page 54 of Whispers of the Elderoak

“Yes, Ava. I’m sorry. Sorry sorry sorry.” He shook his head, tears welling in his large eyes.

As Remy finished speaking, Andras entered the tent followed by Deidamia and a savage looking soldier she had not seen before. He evaluated Ava with a look of excitement and cruelty gleaming in his eyes. As if he was looking forward to her torment. His dark greasy hair was pulled back in a ponytail at the base of his skull and his mouth was full of yellowed broken teeth.

Deidamia stopped at the head of the table and looked down at Ava, gesturing to the newcomer. “This is Vazgeth. Most of the other soldiers call him The Scourge as he has the stomach for cruelty and enjoys it more than most.” She trailed her nails gently down Ava’s cheek, delight flickering in her icy eyes as Ava squirmed.

The pounding of her heartbeat drowned out the othersounds of camp, her hands shaking and palms sweating. Andras stood at the foot of the table inspecting his nails as Deidamia stepped back, allowing The Scourge access to his table of instruments, then walked around to the other side of Ava, stroking her hair.

“Now Ava, dear. This is going to hurt,” she explained. “We promise not to kill you. You’d be useless to us dead.”

Ava’s lower lip shook as her eyes blurred with tears. “Please let me go home,” she said. “I promise I won’t tell anyone about you. You can stay here, please!”

But Deidamia didn’t even acknowledge her words. “You may begin,” she said as she nodded at Vazgeth and continued to stroke Ava’s hair.

The Scourge picked up a glowing red hot poker that had been sitting among the coals of one of the braziers. Ava shook uncontrollably as he crept closer and swung the poker back and forth, purposely taking his time. His lazy steps became a hollow sound in her ears as nausea rose in her throat.

The soldier stopped, a gleam in his eye as he stood over her, while Deidamia watched eagerly. Andras observed from her feet, still looking completely unbothered, arms crossed and tapping his foot almost impatiently. Deidamia lifted Ava’s shirt, exposing more of her torso, and before she had a chance to prepare herself, there was hot searing pain below her rib cage.

She arched upward, screaming in a way she didn’t know was possible, as the hot iron pressed on her skin. He removed it after a few seconds and she gasped, sobbing. The agony of her flesh ripping coursed through her as it stuck to the scorching metal.

Before she had a chance to recover from the first, Vazgeth pressed the poker onto her torso a second time, then a third. She screamed again through her clenched teeth as he moved to her stomach. The burns blended together as he continued his abuse, painting her skin in anguish.

She couldn’t do this, wasn’t strong enough.

There was no way she could withstand this torture.

How would she get out of here? She was wrong wanting to come here. Eorhan was terrifying and though she wanted to learn about her heritage, this wasn’t worth it.

If only she could go home.

You are home,Luna said.

“Where are you?”

I’m still looking for help. The animals don’t know me. I have to find one who will trust me. Just hang on.

“Hurry.”

Vazgeth set the poker down amongst his tools and reached for a set of rusty forceps. Already delirious from the burns, Ava didn’t think she could take any more but he grabbed her pointer finger and held it still as he used the forceps to grasp her fingernail and yanked it out.

She almost passed out. The pain was so intense she didn’t know where she was, as if someone had impaled her finger and the anguish snaked all the way up her arm. This was so much worse than the burns. She whimpered and cried, delirious and writhing against the restraints. If the injuries didn’t kill her, the pain surely would. She tried to be strong, tried to push through but she couldn’t focus.

As her torturer prepared to pull out the next nail, she heard a small “psst” from Remy’s cage. Turning her head, she met his eyes and he tilted his head slightly as if saying “I’m here. I got you. Watch me. Everything is going to be okay.”

So, she did. She maintained eye contact with him through her tears, vision swimming, as The Scourge yanked out another nail and this time she passed out.

Ava awoke hours later,lying on the ground in her usual spot though her arms were no longer above her head, a longer chain connecting to the floor instead, allowing for slightly more movement.

She was alone in the tent with Remy, no sign of her abusers. Someone had removed her clothing and replaced it with a tan sleeveless shift. There were no undergarments underneath and the wool scratched her body. Her bare feet were dirty and her hair unbound, tangled and flowing down her back.

She pushed herself up and inspected her hand first, noting the two fingers the nails had been removed from were bandaged and sore, though not as sore as she would have expected. She lifted her tunic and looked down at her torso to find bandages where she was burned. She touched them lightly and winced.

“They stopped after you passed out,” Remy said, startling Ava. “The healers took care of you.”

“Oh,” she said, voice hoarse from her screaming. “Where are my clothes?”

“The healer asked to change you. To heal you better. Oh Ava,” he said, voice rising. “That was bad. Bad bad bad.”

She shuddered as her eyes caught on the table where she had been strapped. “Yes. It was. How long have I been out?”

---